: The goal of this proposal is to create a simple, accurate and low cost method for drug susceptibility profiling HIV-positive patients. It is proposed to use linear signal amplification to rapidly detect unique nucleic acid sequences that may be present as a small fraction (<0.1 - 10%) of the virus population. The PI contends that this makes the method well suited for detection of targeted mutations in the variable genetic background characteristic of HIV. This phase I study describes detection of 4 highly prevalent HIV mutations in the pol gene that reduce susceptibility to widely used reverse transcriptase inhibitors. The proposal includes plans to validate the methodology on clinical samples. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: NOT AVAILABLE